Karmazin to Deliver Keynote at NAB's Europe Show

London -- Former Viacom president and COO Mel Karmazin will be this year's keynote speaker at the NAB European Radio Conference on November 8. Karmazin is currently CEO of 519 LLC, a private investment firm.

The NAB European Radio Conference is organized each year by the National Assn. of Broadcasters. This year's conference, held in Lisbon, Portugal November 7-9, is expected to gather some 600 radio professionals from around the world.

NAB's director of international Terri Rabel says Karmazin will join a list of prestigious previous keynote speakers, including David Mansfield (CEO of the U.K.'s Capital Radio), Jean-Paul Baudecroux (chairman of France's NRJ Group), Lowry and Mark Mays (Clear Channel Entertainment chairman/CEO and COO, respectively), and Jeff Smulyan (chairman of Emmis Communications).

Says Rabel, "We are thrilled that Mel Karmazin has accepted our invitation to be this year's keynote speaker. His appearance in Lisbon is not to be missed. He has been extremely discreet about his future plans. This will be his first major public appearance since he left Viacom and I am sure there will be much anticipation from our participants to hear what he has to say. He will most certainly be an interesting guest who speaks his mind and turns words into actions."

Karmazin spent most of his career in the radio industry, first at Metromedia, where he stayed for 10 years, then at Infinity Broadcasting, one of America's largest radio groups. It was during Karmazin's tenure that Howard Stern signed to Infinity.

He became COO and then president/CEO of CBS Corporation, after Westinghouse/CBS merged with Infinity Broadcasting in 1997.

Viacom and CBS subsequently merged, and Karmazin served as president and COO, under the leadership of the company's chairman Sumner Redstone. He exited Viacom in May, following disagreements with Redstone.

Karmazin also served on the board of directors of Westwood One, Blockbuster and the New York Stock Exchange and is vice chairman of the board of trustees of The Museum of Television and Radio. He was inducted into the Broadcasting Hall of Fame and has received the NAB National Radio Award.

A full program of the NAB European Radio Conference can be found at www.nab.org.